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Altitude Acclimation is currently inactive

I cannot seem to figure out how to get this glance to say anything. Yes, I know it is activated over 2500 something feet, I have bene at 8000 steady for a few hours. It says nothing. Do I need to have pulseox on? Does it ever say anything? I tried turning pulseox "all day" mode and it didnt even say anything. Not sure how to activate it or what it even shows. Documentation is very blank in manual too.

  • Documentation is very blank in manual too.

    Did you read this?: What Is Heat and Altitude Performance Acclimation? | Garmin Customer Support

    How Does Altitude Acclimation Work?

    • Compatible watches and cycling computers provide acclimation notifications and corrections to your VO2 max estimate and training status when the altitude is above 800 m (2625 ft.). 

    • Location access in your smartphone settings for the Garmin Connect app must be set to "Always" or "Allow all the time". For help updating this setting, see - Why Does the Garmin Connect App Need Location Data from My Phone?.

    • The watch or cycling computer will report your current altitude acclimation by displaying the elevation that your body is acclimated to based on your current training.

    • Total adaptation to living altitude occurs after about 21 days and the adaptation is faster at the beginning.

    • It works best if you have Wi-Fi enabled and the watch or cycling computer is in sleep mode. In this state, the watch or cycling computer will wake up overnight and check the living altitude level to ensure that it is accurate and up to date.

    • Training at higher altitudes can allow you to adapt quickly to a lower altitude. Example: Training 5 days at 3000 m can bring your adaptation to 2000 m. It would normally take up to 21 days of training at 2000 m to reach that same level.

    • Altitude adaptation will decay within 21-28 days.

    • The minimum acclimation value is 800 m (2625 ft.) and the maximum acclimation value is 4000 m (13123 ft.). Your watch or cycling computer will display Inactive or Altitude Acclimation is currently inactive if you are outside of the altitude requirements.

  • 8000ft (2400m) will do nothing for acclimatisation, if You only are there a few hours. You need at least a few days for the body to respond, so your watch is right showing you no change.

    Example: I've been hiking the last 2 weeks, sleeping at about 1100m, going on hikes between 1700 and 2450m nearly every day, my watch responded accordingly to acclimatisation. It now states, "1050" -and holding. As I am now on mere 150m elevation, it will surely decline over the next days.

    But it of course is a guesstimate. I respond very poorly to higher altitudes and am very slow to adapt (sadly) others respond much quicker. I am pretty sure, that that is not taken into account by garmin.

    You do not have to turn on Pulseox (I did'nt, this time) - only if you are interested, if you see a drop of pulseox in greater heights.

  • So definitely don’t need pulse ox on? I was under the assumption the less oxygen in your blood the less acclimated so not sure how its measuring acclimation?

  • So definitely don’t need pulse ox on?

    Frankly told, I do not know, and the document does not list even the nightly Pulse Ox as a required option, so perhaps it can indeed work even without Pulse Ox. On the other hand, Pulse Ox is mentioned in another document, where they write about the Altitude Acclimation Widget and the weekly averages for Pulse Ox, so it might be needed (which would make sense):

    Adding and Using the Altitude Acclimation Widget | Garmin Customer Support

    The Altitude Acclimation widget will give you at-a-glance information on your current elevation and how you are acclimating to the altitude. When opening the widget you will see more information about how you are acclimating, including weekly averages for Pulse Ox,1 respiration rate, and resting heart rate.

    If the widget is displaying Inactive, it means that you are not at a high enough elevation for the widget to display altitude acclimation information.

    In the same time, there is also the following note:

    Pulse Ox will only display if All-Day Pulse Ox is enabled for your watch. Enabling All-Day Pulse Ox will use additional battery power.

    So, possibly they do some estimation of the acclimation based on your HRV / VO₂max / respiration rate, and use the Pulse Ox just when enabled, or perhaps just for the stats. I am afraid the only way to know is by testing it. Unfortunately, I am staying at the altitude of ~0 till December, so have no chance to test it, telling you for sure, whether the Pulse Ox is necessary or not. 

  • can you clarify this since documentation doesn't tell us a straight answer? I'm going into the mountains later this week and want to try this feature out properly. 

  • All information available is what Trux provided above along with this Support Center article:

    Adding and Using the Altitude Acclimation Widget

  • I'm going into the mountains later this week and want to try this feature out properly. 

    If you want to test it properly, let the PulseOx measuring enabled (as long as you can charge frequently enough). Even if it is just optional (as it probably is), or even if it should be used just for the feedback on the Acclimation Widget, it is certainly better using it, than turning it off.

  • Pulse Ox needs to be set to All-Day Mode for this feature to work properly I found out. Thank you trux for your help with this as well